Bus bar

ABSTRACT

A bus bar for electrically coupling a plurality of spaced-apart parallel terminal pins arranged in banks is constructed of flat strips of electrically conductive material. Internal longitudinal slits divide a portion of the strip into sections with every other section being deformed to form a first generally S-shaped bend and the remaining sections being deformed to form a second generally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend to define with a first bend a pair of passages capable of receiving terminal pins. The bus bar further includes indexing marks adjacent to each pair of the passages to facilitate the manufacture of the bar. The spacing between passage pairs is infinitely variable.

United States Patent Jarosek 1 Feb. 25, 1975 [54] Bus BAR 2,981,9264/1961 Boardman 339/256 SP 3,048,812 8/1962 Heidler 339/17 LC x 1lnvemo" P Jamel" Westmmster, 3,439,315 4/1969 Hamel e1; 61.... 339/256 Rx callf- 3,551,875 12/1970 Jarosek 339/19 [73] Assigneez Lear SieglerInc" Santa Monica 3,558,289 1/1971 Cervenka et al 29/1935 Calif- FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 22 Filed: July 23, 1973 1,321,959 2/1963 France339/256 R 1,930,544 l/1970 Germany 339/256 R [21] Appl. No.: 381,578

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 221,905, Jan.31, 1972,

abandoned.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 31, 1972 Belgium 127130 Jan.30, 1973 Denmark 491/73 Jan. 18, 1973 Great Britain 2664/73 Jan. 31,1973 France 73.03353 Jan. 25, 1973 Germany 2303537 Jan. 22, 1973Netherlands 7300894 [52] US. Cl 339/19, 339/22 B, 339/242, 339/256 R[51] Int. Cl H01! 31/08 [58] Field of Search 339/13, 19, B, 242, 339/252P, 256, 276 SF; 29/193, 193.5; 113/119 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,688,735 9/1954 Hubbcll 339/95 R X Primary Examiner-RoyD. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J. Staab Attorney, Agent, orFirmChristie, Parker & Hale [57] ABSTRACT A bus bar for electricallycoupling a plurality of spaced-apart parallel terminal pins arranged inbanks is constructed of flat strips of electrically conductive material.Internal longitudinal slits divide a portion of the strip into sectionswith every other section being deformed to form a first generallyS-shaped bend and the remaining sections being deformed to form a secondgenerally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend todefine with a first bend a pair of passages capable of receivingterminal pins. The bus bar further includes indexing marks adjacent toeach pair of the passages to facilitate the manufacture of the bar. Thespacing between passage pairs is infinitely variable.

10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures BUS BAR CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION This application is a continuation of US. Ser. No. 221,905,filed Jan. 31, 1972 and now abandoned.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT The bus bar herein is related to thebus bar disclosed and claimed in US. Pat. No. 3,551,875, granted Dec.29, 1970, assigned to the same assignee as this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to bus bars and more particularly to a bus bar adapted to beslidably secured to spaced-apart terminal pins arranged in banks andalso to the manufacture of the bus bars.

2. State of the Prior Art In the design of electronic assemblies, suchas are frequently employed in computers, communication equipment, etc.,a great number of serially arranged spacedapart terminal pins requireelectric interconnections. Generally, these pins are arranged inparallel banks and secured to connectors. The connectors, in turn,connect the pins to printed circuit cards or similar hardware mounted onthe connectors. Also, integrated circuits may be arranged to have rowsof terminal pins.

Often a large number of such terminal pins must be electricallyinterconnected. In one prior art arrangement, centrally located flat busbars were installed ad jacent the connectors and provided with aplurality of lugs. The terminal pins which were to be interconnectedwere then wired to the bus but and thereby electrically coupled. Thisapproach required substantial assembly and installation work andgenerally required that each terminal pin be wired to a lug on the busbar by means of a connecting wire and two solder joints. The greatnumber of pins required in such interconnection, often ranging into thehundreds of thousands, necessitates a great amount of effort, time andexpense in making such solder joints. Moreover, such joints frequentlyhave inferior electric characteristics, such as higher resistance, whencompared to the bus bar, the terminal pins and the connecting wires. Inaddition, such prior art connections require a substantial amount ofspace which in some cases is virtually unavailable or which can only beobtained by incurring additional expense. Furthermore, such prior artinterconnections often make it difficult to locate trouble spots and,when located, require that solder joints be broken in order to do repairwork. Other prior art arrangements include the use of a manuallyoperated tool to wrap connecting wire around selected terminals and theuse of clips affixed to terminal posts to fasten connecting wire betweenselected terminals. These latter approaches eliminate the need forsolder connections to the pins but still require the use of connectingwire and the manual connection olthe connecting wire to the proper pinsby an installer.

There exists, therefore, at the present time a need for a bus bar whichis not only economical to manufacture but which is capable ofsubstantially reducing installation, time and expense, which providesbetter interconnections, reduces the frequency of repairs, andfacilitates the making of repairs, when necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a bus bar orconnector for electrically coupling a plurality of spaced-apart pins ofan electronic assembly. Briefly, it comprises a strip of electricallyconductive material. Sections of the strip, defined by spaced-apartlongitudinal slits, are permanently deformed to form first and secondgenerally S-shaped bends oppositely directed which cooperate to definetogether a pair of passages capable of receiving terminal pins. Thepassages have a configuration complementary to the shape of the pins toprovide guidance for the pins as they are moved relative to theconnector and to establish electrical connections between the connectorand the pins.

If the bus bar is installed in an electronic assembly in whichundesirable voltages, noises, or other disturbances must be avoided, thebus bar may be shielded. Thin layers of insulating and conductivematerial are then applied to the exterior of the bar to provide suchshielding. If the bus bar requires insulation only, this can beaccomplished by a thin layer of insulating matc rial over the bar.

The bus bar of the present invention is simple and relativelyinexpensive to manufacture. It can be mass manufactured by using indexmarks such as dimples on the strip at preselected intervals along thelength of the strip. Longitudinal slits of preselected length are cut atthese preselected locations along the length of the bar with respect tothe indexing marks. The resulting sections are then deformed with everyother strip forming a first generally S-shaped bend and the remainingstrips being deformed into second generally S-shaped bends oppositelydirected from the first bends. Thereafter, the bus bars are cut to thedesired length.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS vention and interconnecting two pairsof terminal pins;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a portion of the bus bar shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the bus bar of FIG. 3 taken alongsection lines 55;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the bus bar of FIG. 3 taken alongsection lines 6-6; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are side elevation views of bus bars in accordance withthis invention for connecting larger terminal pins.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1 and2, an electronic assembly 10, for use in a computer or in communicationequipment, for example, is mounted on a chassis 12 and includes aplurality of parallel, spaced-apart elec-. trical connectors 14. Theconnectors are of a conventional construction and are secured to thechassis by suitable fasteners such as screws 16. A'plurality ofspaced-apart and parallel terminal pins 18 project from an underside 20of the connectors 14. The chassis also includes guide elements 22 whichslidably receive printed circuit cards 24 having terminals 26 whichcoact with the connectors 14 in a known manner. The printed circuitcards can; of course, be replaced by other electric componentswhichcoact withthecom" nectors. Since the electronic subassernbly forms nopart of this invention, it is not further described herein;

Alternatively, the'spaced apart and parallelterminal pins may beterminal pins of integrated circuitshaving,

for example, a dualin-line configuration.

When the connectors 14 are installed in the. chassis 12, the terminalpins 18 form banks of aligned terminal pins. with each connector 14having a paircof terminal 7 pins in a common plane with pairs ofterminal pins on 'As seen. inFlG; 4, the" generally S shaped bends of xin a passageway. that is symmetrical aboutthe longitudiother connectorsthat are to be'interconnected. These pairs form vertical columns. asviewed in FIG. 1. It fre-- qnently occursthat each pair in a verticalcolumn must be electrically interconnected and this invention providcsbus bars 30 for electrically interconnecting the pairs of terminal pins.18 in a common plane.

The bus bar 30 will now be ,tlcscribcdwith reference to FIGS. I and 3through 6..The bus bar 30 is a strip of conductive material that has aninternal longitudinal slit 3] andan internal longitudinal slit .32 thatdivides 7 "1h addition toro lling the center section the sidesections-34 and 35 are rolled to cause the. inner edges of thesesections. tobe pushed away from the center section 33 to furtherfacilitate the insertion ofterminal pins and to remove any burrs fromthe edges of these sections. l V

The sheet/is then. movedforward to the next index mark 43 andthe nextpair of slits andpassages are formed. Afterthe desired number ofpassages are ereated in the'strip, the strip islcut to the-desiredlength to complete the bus bar. it

the center section 33 and edge section '34 and 35 result nal center line5001 the b us'bar for a selected terminal pinsize. V V

For ease in manufacturing, where larger terminal pins are to beinterconnected, the bend in the strips on one side of the, center linearemaintained the same distance from the center line .while the bends onthe other side have an increased distance to accommodate... thelargerterminal pin. This is shownin the side elevation view of the buslbar and 70, respectively depicted in FIGS. 7 and 8. V

The number of slitsfin the'sheet of conductivematew V rialmay, ofcourse, beincreased asdesired';

thcstrip into acenter section 33 and a pairofside sections 34 and 3.5.The slits 3i and 32,.have a length dependent upon the size ofthe terrninal pinsto be inter connected in FIG, 3, a pair of terminal pins 36 and37 are shown as being interconnected byjthe bus bar 30. The middlesections 33 are .permanentlypdeformed toform a first generallyS-.shaped'bend,,most easily seen in=FIG; 4.

Similarly, the side seetions 34 and 35 are permanently. 1

deformed to form second generally S-shaped bends o'ppositely directedfrom the first bend, as seen in FIG. 4; The first and second bendscooperate to define to- I pins until the pins are gethcr a pair'ofpassages 41 and4-2 capable of receiving terminal pins having apreselected size with a force fit,

such as terminal'pins 36 and 37.The resulting configuration as viewedfrom the edge of the busbar 30'is a FIG. 8, 8, as shown in FIG. 4.

I The sharpness of the bends olthe strips'of the busban 30 is generallydetermined byithe size of the. terminal pin to be interconnected and theforming tool uscdyand I the configurations shown in the drawings arethus, illus- 50 To facilitate the manufacture of the bar 30, indexingtrativeonly.

'markssuch, as dimples 43 are applied to the strip for subsequentlocation ofthe sections33, 34, and 35 to be deformed. The indexing marks43 are applied at the.

time of slitting the strip. The dimples 43 are placed at preselectedlocations alongthebar as determined by r the variable spacingrequirements between the terminal pins and also by the size of theterminalpins. Subse-.

With respect to the installation of al bus bar, a bar havingtheproper'length and spacingis first selected" 7 and laced adjacentthefree endsiof theterminal pins 18.The passageways4l and 42ofthe busfba'rfare aligned with the terminal pins andthe bar is thereafter forcedtowards and'intoflengagement with theterrninal positioned properlywithinthe;

j The insertionofapinin passageway:4 1lor4'2 tends I to decrease thesize of the adjacent passageway. Consequently the holding. forceyfoneach terminal pin is incr'ea sed 'witharesultant improved bus .barQForgreater ease ininstalling the bus baronto the terminal pins, the latterpreferably include tapered ends 54 (shown'in upon, .lnsitlls!isnsfth aste?" FIG. 3) whichgradually spread'the center portions I What have beendescribed are considered 'to be only illustrativeembodiments of thepresent invention. Ac-' cordingly. itis to be understood that variousnumerous l other arrangements maybe devised by one'skilled in the art.withoutdeiparting from thegspiritandgscope of 1 this invention. T s 5 5'i Wh t ss ainsdyis 1;.

V 1a" A strip of conductive material forinterconnecting one pair ofterminal pins to other pairsofterminalpins spaced given distances apartcomprising:

at least one longitudinal slit at eachlocation of a pair of terminalpins, all slits at each location being separated from all slits ateachcadjacentlocation and having a length determined bythe.selectedsizeof k the terminal pins t o; be interconnected the slits at each locationbeing separated from the slits at each adjacent location. and dividingthe strip at each location into one more section than 7 there are slitsat each location,

alternate sections at each location being deformed to form a firstgenerally S-shaped bend, the remaining sections'at each location beingdeformed to form a second generally S-shaped bend oppositely directedfromthe first bend.

the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receiving apair of terminal pins of the given size and wherein the insertion of apin of the given size causes a decrease in the adjacent opening of thepair of passages, and the slits being of a selected length to provide aforce fit for each terminal pin of the pair when both terminal pins areinserted. 2. A strip of conductive material in accordance with claim 1wherein each passage of a pair is slightly smaller than the terminal pinwhereby the insertion of a pin in one passage decreases the size of theadjacent passage of the pair.

3. A bus bar for forming electrical connections between paired terminalpins in a common plane and on the same side of the bus bar with the busbar having a plurality of paired openings in the common plane, the busbar comprising:

a strip of conductive material having slitted portions of selectedlength at selected places along the length of the strip,

each portion having at least one internal longitudinal slit of selectedlength determined by the size ofthe terminal pins to be interconnectedthat divides the strip within the portion into one more section thanthere are slits;

every other section in each portion being permanently deformed to form afirst generally S-shaped bend;

and the other sections in each portion being permanently deformed toform a second generally S- shaped bend oppositely directed from thefirst bend,

the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receivingterminal pins from the same side with a force fit by decreasing the sizeof one passage when a pin of the given size is inserted in the adjacentpassage of each pair; and

the slits at each slitted portion being separated from the slits at eachadjacent slitted portion.

4. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3 wherein there are two internallongitudinal slits forming one center section and two side sections.

5. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3 in which the sections are sodeformed that the passage defined by the first and second bends issubstantially symmetrical about the longitudinal center line of thestrip.

6. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3 in which the strip has a widthtransverse to the slits that is substantially greater than the maximumtransverse dimension of the pin to be received. I

7. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3 in which the sections are sodeformed that the passage defined by the first and second bends isoffset with respect to the center plane within the plane of the stripfor all pin sizes greater than a selected pin size.

8. An electrical connection comprising in combination:

a column of parallel electrical conductive pins; and

a strip of electrically conductive material generally lying in the planeof the column of pins and having a connecting passage associated witheach pin,

each connecting passage being associated with one immediately adjacentconnecting passage and being formed by one or more internal longitudinalslits in the strip that divides a portion of the strip into one moresection than there are slits with every other section being permanentlydeformed to form a first generally S-shaped bend and the other sectionsbeing permanently deformed to form a second generally S-shaped bendoppositely directed from the first bend, the first and second bendsbeing so positioned relative to each other to define together a pair ofcooperating passages capable of receiving pins of a selected size fromthe same side with a force fit by decreasing the size of one passagewhen a pin of the selected size is inserted in the adjacent passage ofeach pair.

9. An electrical terminal assembly comprising:

a chassis;

a plurality of connectors for receiving printed circuit boards mountedon the chassis side-by-side in parallel relationship;

a plurality of spaced-apart parallel terminal pins arranged in-banks oneach connector and extending the same direction from the connector;

a bus bar for interconnecting pairs of terminal pins in a common planeand on the same side of the bus bar. with the bus bar having a pluralityof paired openings in the common plane, the bus bar comprising: a

a strip of conductive material having slitted portions of selectedlength at selected places along the length of the strip,

each portion having at least one internal longitudinal slit of selectedlength dependent upon the size of.

the terminal pins to be interconnected that divides the strip within theportion into one more section than there are slits;

every other section in each portion being permanently deformed to form afirst generally S-shaped bend;

and the other sections in each portion being permanently deformed toform a second generally S- shaped bend oppositely directed from thefirst bend,

the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receivingterminal pins from the same side with a force fit by decreasing the sizeof one passage when a pin of the selected size is inserted in theadjacent passage of each pair;

and

each slitted portion being a selected distance from.

ing one pair of terminal pins to other pairs of terminal pins spacedgiven distances apart comprising:

at least one longitudinal slit at each location of a pair of terminalpins, all slits having a length determined by the selected size of theterminal pins to be interconnected,

the slits at each location being separated from the slits at eachadjacent location and dividing the strip at each location into one moresection than there are slits at each location,

alternate sections at each location being deformed to form a firstgenerally S-shaped bend,

the remaining sections at each location being deformed to form a secondgenerally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend,

the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receiving apair of terminal pins of the given size and the slits being common toboth passages of a pair of cooperating passages and extending the lengthof both passages.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 a 868a Dated February 25 1975 Gordon G. Jarosek Page 1 of 4 Inventor(s) It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 41., after "hundreds" delete "of" and insert -"'-or-Column 3, line 45, delete PIG. 9 and insert FIG. 8,

IN THE CLAIMS:

Column 4, line 51, after l." through Column 5, line 9, delete "A stripof conductive material. ..terminal pins are inserted." and insert.

. A trip of conductive material for interconnecting one pair of terminalpins to-other pairs of terminal pins spaced given distances apartcomprising:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 ,868,163 Dated February 25 1975 Inventor(s) Gordon G Page 2 of 4 It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

at least one longitudinal slit at each location of a pair of terminalpins, all slits having a length determined by the selected size of theterminal pins to be interconnected,

the slits at each location being separated from the slits at eachadjacent location and dividing the strip at each location into one moresection than there are slits at each location,

alternate sections at each location being deformed to form a firstgenerally S-shaped bend,

the remaining sections at each location being deformed to form a secondgenerally Sshaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend,

the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating I passages capable of receiving apair of terminal pins of the given size and the slits being common toboth passages of a pair of cooperating passages and extending the lengthof both passages."

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 868163 Dated February 25 1975 lnventofls) Gordon G. Jarosek Page 3 of 4 Itis certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 6, line 51, after "10." through line 72,

delete "A strip of conductive material. .the length of both passages"and insert A strip of conductive material for interconnecting one pair-of terminal pins to other pairs of terminal pins spaced given distancesapart comprising:

at least one longitudinal slit at each location of a pair of terminalpins, all slits at each location being separated from all. slits at eachadjacent location and having a length determined by the selected size ofthe terminal pins to be interconnected, I

the slits at each location dividing the strip at each location into onemore section than there are slits at each location,

alternate sections at each location being deiormed to form a firstgenerally S-shaped bend,

the remaining sections at each location being deformed to form a secondgenerally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. I 3Dated February 25 1975 Gordon G. J'arosek v Page 4 of 4 Inventor (s) Itis certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receivin nn-pai of terminal pins of the given size and wherein the insertion of apin of the given size causes a decrease in the adjacent opening of thepair of passages, and the slits being of a selected length to provide aforce fit for each terminal pin of the pair when both terminal pins areinserted.

Signed and Scaled this seventeenth D ay 0f February 1 976 [SEAL] Attest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Attesling Officer Commissioner uflatenlsand Trademarks

1. A strip of conductive material for interconnecting one pair ofterminal pins to other pairs of terminal pins spaced given distancesapart comprising: at least one longitudinal slit at each location of apair of terminal pins, all slits at each location being separated fromall slits at each adjacent location and having a length determined bythe selected size of the terminal pins to be interconnected, the slitsat each location dividing the strip at each location into one moresection than there are slits at each location, alternate sections ateach location being deformed to form a first generally S-shaped bend,the remaining sections at each location being deformed to form a secondgenerally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend, thefirst and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receiving apair of terminal pins of the given size and wherein the insertion of apin of the given size causes a decrease in the adjacent opening of thepair of passages, and the slits being of a selected length to provide aforce fit for each terminal pin of the pair when both terminal pins areinserted.
 2. A strip of conductive material in accordance with claim 1wherein each passage of a pair is slightly smaller than the terminal pinwhereby the insertion of a pin in one passage decreases the size of theadjacent passage of the pair.
 3. A bus bar for forming electricalconnections between paired terminal pins in a common plane and on thesame side of the bus bar with the bus bar having a plurality of pairedopenings in the common plane, the bus bar comprising: a strip ofconductive material having slitted portions of selected length atselected places along the length of the strip, each portion having atleast one internal longitudinal slit of selected length determined bythe size of the terminal pins to be interconnected that divides thestrip within the portion into one more section than there are slits;every other section in each portion being permanently deformed to form afirst generally S-shaped bend; and the other sections in each portionbeing permanently deformed to form a second generally S-shaped bendoppositely directed from the first bend, the first and second bendsbeing so positioned relative to each other to define together a pair ofcooperating passages capable of receiving terminal pins from the sameside with a force fit by decreasing the size of one passage when a pinof the given size is inserted in the adjacent passage of each pair; andthe slits at each slitted portion being separated from the slits at eachadjacent slitted portion.
 4. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3wherein there are two internal longitudinal slits forming one centersection and two side sections.
 5. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3in which the sections are so deformed that the passage defined by thefirst and second bends is substantially symmetrical about thelongitudinal center line of the strip.
 6. A bus bar in accordance withclaim 3 in which the strip has a width transverse to the slits that issubstantially greater than the maximum transverse dimension of the pinto be received.
 7. A bus bar in accordance with claim 3 in which thesections are so deformed that the passage defined by the first andsecond bends is offset with respect to the center plane within the planeof the strip for all pin sizes greater than a selected pin size.
 8. Anelectrical connection comprising in combination: a column of parallelelectrical conductive pins; and a strip of electrically conductivematerial generally lying in the plane of the column of pins and having aconnecting passage associated with each pin, each connecting passagebeing associated with one immediately adjacent connecting passage andbeing formed by one or more internal longitudinal slits in the stripthat divides a portion of the strip into one more section than there areslits with every other section being permanently deformed to form afirst generally S-shaped bend and the other sections being permanentlydeformed to form a second generally S-shaped bend oppositely directedfrom the first bend, the first and second bends being so positionedrelative to each other to define together a pair of cooperating passagescapable of receiving pins of a selected size from the same side with aforce fit by decreasing the size of one passage when a pin of theselected size is inserted in the adjacent passage of each pair.
 9. Anelectrical terminal assembly comprising: a chassis; a plurality ofconnectors for receiving printed circuit boards mounted on the chassisside-by-side in parallel relationship; a plurality of spaced-apartparallel terminal pins arranged in banks on each connector and extendingthe same direction from the connector; a bus bar for interconnectingpairs of terminal pins in a common plane and on the same side of the busbar with the bus bar having a plurality of paired openings in the commonplane, the bus bar comprising: a strip of conductive material havingslitted portions of selected length at selected places along the lengthof the strip, each portion having at least one internal longitudinalslit of selected length dependent upon the size of the terminal pins tobe interconnected that divides the strip within the portion into onemore section than there are slits; every other section in each portionbeing permanently deformed to form a first generally S-shaped bend; andthe other sections in each portion being permanently deformed to form asecond generally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the first bend,the first and second bends being so positioned relative to each other todefine together a pair of cooperating passages capable of receivingterminal pins from the same side with a force fit by decreasing the sizeof one passage when a pin of the selected size is inserted in theadjacent passage of each pair; and EACH slitted portion being a selecteddistance from the next slitted portion.
 10. A strip of conductivematerial for interconnecting one pair of terminal pins to other pairs ofterminal pins spaced given distances apart comprising: at least onelongitudinal slit at each location of a pair of terminal pins, all slitshaving a length determined by the selected size of the terminal pins tobe interconnected, the slits at each location being separated from theslits at each adjacent location and dividing the strip at each locationinto one more section than there are slits at each location, alternatesections at each location being deformed to form a first generallyS-shaped bend, the remaining sections at each location being deformed toform a second generally S-shaped bend oppositely directed from the firstbend, the first and second bends being so positioned relative to eachother to define together a pair of cooperating passages capable ofreceiving a pair of terminal pins of the given size and the slits beingcommon to both passages of a pair of cooperating passages and extendingthe length of both passages.